Loving llama life at the Big E

The Big E has been providing fairground entertainment – and agritainment – for 109 years. Bridget Kelleher, assistant director of marketing, stated, “The Big E continues to be the leading showcase for commerce, agriculture and entertainment in the Northeast.”

Each evening, fairgoers enjoyed a daily parade featuring marching bands, exotic oats and the splendid HKS Clydesdales.

Over in the animal barn on Sept. 25, people were arriving with their alpacas and llamas for showing on Friday and the weekend. Alyson Weiss of Swallow Hill Farm and her crew had just arrived after driving four hours from Hillsboro, NJ, trailering eight alpacas entered in the Big E Alpaca Show. They were walking the alpacas, giving them a chance to stretch their legs after their long ride.

Weiss is the 4-H leader of an alpaca club started in 1999. According to Weiss, it was the first alpaca club in the country. This is the second year she has represented Swallow Hill Farm, owned by Patricia Flanagan, at the Big E. This year, her group is a mix of adults and 4-H’ers.

“They do a great job at the show. This llama show is so much fun. It is not accredited but they hold to the same standards as an accredited show. Anyone can show here. My group has said how much they enjoy the show, how relaxed it is,” she said.

Barbara Kurzowski of We Be Crazy Llamas of Holley, NY, has shown llamas for 26 years. This was her first time at the Big E. One of her llamas, LUA Showstopper’s Carbon Copy, placed second in the class Heavy Wool 2-Year-Old Male for both shows in which he was entered.

Charlene Arendas, DVM, was giving her llama SALR MissFortune a shower with the outside hoses after they had arrived from Spacey Acres Llama Ranch in Lowellville, Ohio. They have 55 llamas on 40 acres. She’s raised llamas for 21 years. What does she like best about them? “They are very curious, inquisitive about everything and kinda quirky,” she said.

Living up to their reputation of having good guarding instincts, Arendas has found that “llamas do a good job of running coyotes off a property.”

Checking back with Arendas on Sept. 27, SALR MissFortune placed rst in the Yearling Medium Wool Female class. “We brought five llamas to the show and they’ve all done wonderful. Our female SWLC Enfanta took Grand Champion Medium Wool Female and SALR Murphy Brown got first place then Reserve Champion Medium Wool Female,” she said. ASALR MissFortune was first under one judge; Murphy was first under a different judge. Our show was a double show, so two judges were evaluating at the same time.”

The weekend before their Big E journey, she was married with her llamas in attendance at their farm. Shocky, a tall white and gray paint llama, was the ring bearer. Fleecewood Mac, a dark brown llama, was the flower llama. Her new husband, Ben, stayed home to take care of the rest of the herd as she attended the fair with her mom.

For more information, access thebige.com.